Firefox versus Chrome

Mozilla Firefox has been my browser of choice for many years, now. Unfortunately, consistent and frequent hanging issues in the past couple years have made me wish for another alternative to Internet Explorer.

I recently tested Google Chrome and liked it, but a couple issues make me reluctant (at least for now) to completely switch over.

First, Firefox offers better control over cookies. In comparison, Chrome's cookie controls are too all or none in nature. Second and more importantly, I've grown accustomed to the Firefox add-on NoScript. It's amazing how well it cleans up webpages of all the stuff I have no interest in seeing -- or if I do, then it's quick and simple to remedy. Chrome, as far as I can determine, doesn't have an extension of similar utility not because no one has produced one but because Chrome's design and/or infrastructure doesn't make such an extension possible.

Oh well. Back to my hanging Firefox, rebooting, hanging Firefox, rebooting... ad nauseum.

Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router, WRT54G2

So far I'm fairly impressed by how much difference changing a router can make. For the past eight months I'd been living with an inconsistent wireless home network, mostly evident with my Nintendo Wii.

My Nintendo would connect via wireless one day, and then with the identical settings throw up an error message the following day. I'd change my router to channel 11, and the Nintendo connected... and then it wouldn't next time I tried. Channel 1? Eureka -- but, no. I finally gave up and decided to try a new router.

Why did it take me so long to make the decision? I'd always thought that different routers differed in strength, speed, and area of coverage, and that's about it. Based on this erroneous assumption I wasn't optimistic a new router would change anything. After all, my Nintendo connected fine... sometimes. PS3, no problems.

Anywhoo, I started reading up on routers and my error quickly became evident. Most routers work at a 2.4 GHz which apparently is a frequency prone to interference from microwaves, cordless phones and the like. Living in an apartment building I can easily imagine my locale being full of potentially interfering devices.

So... I considered purchasing a "N" (or pre-"N") router with simultaneous dual band ability (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz). Dual band, because much fewer devices use 5 GHz so there's less chance of interference. Simultaneous, because the mere thought of having to manually switch between 2.4 and 5 GHz depending on what device I'm currently using annoys me to no end.

After all this, as you may have guessed from the post title, I decided to buy a Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router (WRT54G2), broadcasting at a frequency of 2.4 GHz.

Eh?

Unfortunately, all the simultaneous dual band N routers reviewed in my price range were lacking in some manner -- mostly poor efficiency/speed data transfer while in simultaneous mode. Still, this wouldn't have held me back from buying one, but I began to wonder whether any of my electronics were even compatible with this latest and greatest 5 GHz wireless "N" router technology, let alone being capable of taking advantage of it.

Anywhoo, my primary uses of a wireless router is to connect my Nintendo Wii and PS3, which I learned, after further reading, both operate at 2.4 GHz using "G" protocols/technology. Interesting.

The WRT54G2 is an older router, but the reviews I read were mostly positive; I decided to go with a proven performer rather than a router with all the latest bells and whistles. So far I haven't regretted my decision. Not only has my Nintendo Wii been connecting without fail, but another issue, one I had thought was unrelated to the router, has also been fixed. Thunderbird software on my desktop frequently failed to check/download POP3 e-mail, giving out "unable to connect" error messages for some or all of my e-mail accounts. No more.

The only negative of the WRT54G2 I've experienced is with its MAC filtering. My previous router allowed me to label each MAC address I added eg. "PS3" or "Nintendo" . With the Linksys... no. There's no way I'm going to be able to remember which MAC address is associated with each device. Still, all in all a minor quibble.

SFX Performance

UPDATE (04AUG2009): Never say never, I guess. SFX Performance sent me my order -- insured, this time -- at their cost. It actually arrived a couple (few?) weeks ago. Much appreciated. As far as I'm concerned this event has come to an unexpected but positive conclusion.

UPDATE (07APR2010): Updated post title.

UPDATE (21JUN2010):  As this issue has been resolved (see above) I decided to delete the original post that was below.
-----

Delete.

Debix update

To follow up my previous post regarding the ID fraud protection service offered by Debix, there was some question as to the credit freeze lifting fee required for each credit request if -- as reported in the cnet article I sourced -- Debix places a credit freeze on your account as part of signing up with Debix.

I e-mailed Debix for information and this was their reply:

"Debix does not place a "credit freeze" on your credit file. Debix service does not prevent your credit file from being obtained; it will only prevent new credit lines from being opened without your consent. A fraud alert requires the creditor take additional steps to verify your identity. One step is to obtain your permission via your Debix safe number."

So it turns out the cnet article was inaccurate. Debix places a fraud alert on your file rather than a credit freeze, thus avoiding a lifting fee each time your file is requested.

Furthermore, while self-evident but nevertheless bears repeating, Debix only protects against new fraudulent credit lines. Any fraudulent accounts established before signing up with Debix won't be detected.

ID Fraud Protection

Ever since I started shopping online I've been concerned with identify theft. Though I guess you don't even have to shop online to be vulnerable.

Despite my concerns I rejected the identity fraud protection services offered by banks and the like. The major problem I have with these services is that they only catch a problem after the fact. I'm also annoyed by the monthly fee -- especially since it's the banks who ultimately permit criminals to open accounts, albeit under false pretenses. So personally I think the ID protection plans have been useless and a money grab.

"The Achilles' heel in all of these plans is that the financial institution does not have to make a reasonable attempt to contact you, so the fraudulent account may still get opened. Even with a credit freeze, some financial intuitions won't contact you. There's no way to prove or disprove an institution called you" -- cnet.com

I don't know how LifeLock works but when its CEO is an ID fraud victim after publicly bragging about LifeLock's security, it doesn't exactly inspire confidence. As Jeremy Clarkson discovered, it's not a matter of whether or not you're vulnerable to ID fraud, but a matter of whether or not you'll be targeted.

In the United States the three credit monitoring companies (Equifax, Trans Union, Experian) are legally required to each provide a free credit report annually. I've been checking my credit reports every four months.

Am I being paranoid? I don't think so. Millions of Americans are victims of identity fraud annually. Besides, I'd feel much worse being a victim having done nothing than being a victim and having at least tried to be proactive.

Anywhoo, all this is to say is why haven't I heard of Debix sooner? From an article on cnet:

"Not only does Debix put a credit freeze on your profile, but it uses its own phone number to log whether the credit institution tried to contact you. And if you're not available, Debix puts the pending account or loan on hold until you are able to return the call. And by using a Debix phone number, not your home number, on your credit report, that adds another layer of security to the product.

So how does Debix work in the real world? Say you are at a car dealership and you need to finance a new car. Shortly after the salesperson leaves the showroom floor, your mobile phone should ring. That's Debix; you know it because it's your voice saying a secret code. Then Debix asks if you indeed are seeking to establish a new account. If yes, you type in a secret personal identification number.

Say you are on vacation and Debix conveys a permission request for a new account. Since you didn't request a new account, you press star and you are instantly put in touch with a Debix investigator, who then contacts the party requesting the credit check. The advantage here, says Holland, is that the ID fraud case is still hot. In some cases, Debix has been able to identify a particular IP address and then turn that information over the local law enforcement. This saves local law enforcement time; they don't have to get a warrant for the bank's information--Debix has already provided the information. [...]

Sound too good to be true? In a study published by Julie Fergerson, vice president of Emerging Technologies, and Debix's Holland, the authors looked at 30,000 Debix-secured transactions during a two-month period at the end of 2007. Of those, 380 were identified as fraud and were stopped immediately. Overall, the rate of new account fraud among Debix customers was zero percent.

ITRC's Foley said he was impressed with the results within the survey. Holland told me that during the survey period there were four instances of new account fraud. In each case, however, the financial institution did not call the customer. With Debix, though, you have some recourse. Debix maintains a record and can prove the institution in question did not attempt to call the customer."

Bold is mine.

Debix has been protecting against ID fraud since 2004, so it's not an untried new kid on the block. Plus, it's only $24 (for a single adult) or $72 (up to 3 adults, 4 children) annually.

I doubt it's full-proof, but Debix sounds far better than anything else I've seen.

Windows Vista Tweaks

I was more or less forced to upgrade to Windows Vista when my previous computer broke down. Overall, after the initial setup headaches (you can read this post for an example of my tribulations), I've been satisfied with it. It's definitely prettier than XP, but in addition to compatibility issues I was disappointed with the speed.

Despite a brand new Intel dual core 1.87 Hz, 2 GB RAM computer, Vista ran slower than I had expected. Were my expectations too optimistic? Obviously. But there you have it. I cursed the fates that led to my old computer's death.

Aside: I lost everything on my hard drive, without any warning whatsoever -- luckily I had a week old back-up on an external drive. If you don't already, back-up your computer!!! It's just like breathing, you never appreciate it as much as when you can't.

My ideal operating system is lean and mean, bloatware free; I don't need the bells and whistles.

Anywhoo, off and on I've been researching various tweaks to make Vista run faster. I found a great site with a multitude of tweaks on appearance, security, performance and other customizations. The How-To Geek has clear, simple instructions that even I can follow.

So as I said, overall I'm satisfied with Windows Vista. Vista runs the programs I need, and does the crucial tasks I want. Does it perform perfectly? No; but neither did XP.

Art of the Saber

Links to these videos were posted at a forum I frequent. I think they're both great, for different reasons, so I had to post them here.

Art of the Saber


Lightsaber Accident


I think the introduction to Art of the Saber is a little dragged out, and the sticking the lightsaber in the ground too over done, but all in all an impressive fan video.

Lightsaber Accident is just hilarious. :o)

It's a Spam World

There was an interesting article at bbc.co.uk the other day.

An experiment by the computer security company McAfee found that surfing the web unprotected for a month will leave the average surfer 70 spam e-mails per day. One study participant received 5,414 spam messages during the trial.

McAfee invited 50 people around the world to participate in their study. Participants in the United States fared the worst, receiving a total of 23,233 spam e-mails during the one month trial.

"The results show that spam is showing no signs of slowing down, although the opposite can be said of those receiving messages.

"Many of our participants noticed that their computers were slowing down. This means that while they were surfing, unbeknownst to them, websites were installing malware," said Guy Roberts, director of McAfee's labs in Europe.

Some 8% of the total spam received during the experiment was classified as phishing e-mails - messages that pose as a trustworthy source as a way of getting sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and bank account details." --bbc.co.uk

From the article:

Number of spam messages received:

1. US - 23,233
2. Brazil - 15,856
3. Italy - 15,610
4. Mexico - 12,229
5. UK - 11,965
6. Australia - 9,214
7. The Netherlands - 6,378
8. Spain - 5,419
9. France - 2,597
10. Germany - 2,331

*Data supplied by McAfee

Top ten most common spam categories:

1. Advertisements
2. Financial
3. Health and medicine
4. Adult services
5. Free stuff
6. Education
7. IT related
8. Money making
9. Credit cards
10. Watch adverts

*Data supplied by McAfee

Yahoo > Google

Once again despite Google's so-called dominance as a search engine, in my view Yahoo definitely comes out on top. Using the search term "2004 vw golf r32" on Yahoo, my website comes up listed as numero uno. :o) With Google, on the other hand, I don't show up for at least the six first pages.

Yahoo came out on top versus Google a while back, as well (Yahoo versus Google). Using the same search term now as I did then, "2004 golf r32", I come up at number four rather than the fifteenth placement of a couple years ago. With Google this blog shows up at 39.

Nifty, eh? I'm easily amused.

Gmail and aliases

Today I learned that a single gmail account has unlimited aliases - a very useful feature. E-mail aliases are a great way to keep track of which and where websites distribute your e-mail address.

How does this work? If my e-mail address is "email@gmail.com", then any e-mail addressed to "email+xxxxx@gmail.com" will be sent to the former address. As an example, if a website, say "checkers.com" requires an e-mail address, I could give them "email+checkers@gmail.com".

Any email checkers.com sends me will be sent using "email+checkers@gmail.com" but I'll still receive their e-mail by logging into my "email@gmail.com" account. With the appropriate use of filters this will make organizing e-mail much easier. Furthermore, if checkers.com were to give my e-mail address to another website, I should be able to know that it was checkers.com (and not some other website I signed-up for) that shared my e-mail address by virtue of the "sent to" field, as long as I give an unique alias to each site - easily done since as mentioned above gmail allows unlimited aliases.

Pretty neat, eh? Well, at least I think so. :o)

Going Wireless - Part II

Well that was simple enough. After all my previous travails trying to setup a wireless network (Going Wireless - Part I) the solution turned out to be quite simple. I lost my internet connection when I connected my router so when I looked at the next installation step and saw "open browser and type http://xxx.xxx.x.x" I couldn't understand how to do that - how can I open a webpage without an internet connection?

Oops. Turns out that while you do use a browser and you do type in a 'typical' url you're not in fact opening a webpage, instead you're accessing the router directly. Once I'd realized my erroneous assumption setting up my router went smoothly; as a test I was able to sync my Zune 80 wirelessly.

Nevertheless, this still doesn't explain why my mouse and keyboard were being disabled during my earlier attempts. Strange.

Online shopping and e-mail

I shop online fairly frequently and there have been several notable occasions where during check-out my credit card information was rejected. In each of these cases neither the credit card company nor vendor could tell me why my transactions weren’t going through – so I moved on without purchasing anything.

The first time I remember this happening to me was when I was trying to order a Microsoft Zune Original (I’m actually relieved I never ordered one). To make the story short, Microsoft check-out refused my credit card information despite my credit card company saying they had approved it. Go figure.

The second time was with Gamestop / EB Games. I first phoned EB Games Customer Service and was told that I should contact my credit card company. Okay, fine – I wasn’t surprised as this so far matched my previous experience. What was different this time, however, is that my credit card company informed me they had no record of a transaction request. Eh? How could my credit card be rejected if my credit card company didn’t know I was buying something?

So I called back EB Games where I spoke to a different, much more helpful and informative Customer Service agent. He verified that my credit card information was correct and then dug a little deeper into my situation. It turned out that EB Games (and I assume other vendors must do, as well) sets up various ‘flags’ and if enough of these are triggered then the transaction is denied even if the billing/shipping information is correct. In my case the main ‘flag’ holding me up was that I was using an e-mail with a ‘.ca’ address while my billing information was in the USA. Interesting.

I set up a new account with a ‘.com’ e-mail and my online order went through without any problems.

Different vendors must set up different flags as the vast majority of the time I don’t have this problem. Anywhoo, now I wonder whether this was the cause of the problem I had when trying to order a Zune Original. Curious.

Going Wireless - Part I

Ugh. Earlier today I decided to try setting up a wireless router, with no success. My brother helped set one up before, but I decided to disconnect it afterwards because it was slower than having a direction connection between my computer and cable modem.

This time I had two network cables, so I connected my modem to the router, and the router to my computer. Unfortunately, although all the router indicator links were blinking like they should I couldn't get connected. Wangos. So after struggling with various settings I disconnected the router and set things up the way the were before the router - but I still couldn't connect to the internet. Wangos x2.

Eventually I tried restoring to an earlier system restore point, but that didn't work, either. To make matters worse, I couldn't type in my Vista login password because my keyboard (USB connection) wasn't recognized anymore. I'm only guessing, but I think it might be due to the fact that all my system restore points happened to be before I'd purchased that keyboard - my original keyboard (which I've long tossed out) had a PS2 connection.

Anywhoo, I rushed out to buy a new keyboard with a PS2 connection. But that didn't work, either. Wangos x3. Luckily, during my next restart I pressed F1 during bootup to see if I could deactivate my Vista password (I couldn't); however, when I continued the bootup my computer now recognized my keyboard and I could log in to my computer. Whew!

After that it was only a short while before I was able to get my internet going again. The most frustrating thing about all of this (besides the fact that I still don't have wireless set up) is that I don't think it's supposed to be this difficult to install a wireless router. Am I missing something obvious? What am I doing wrong? What settings should I be looking at? Why is this so difficult? And the biggest question of them all: Why me?

TSA put travellers at risk of ID theft

Scary but true:

A scathing congressional report released Friday confirms that security flaws in a Transportation Security Administration site put thousands of Americans at risk of identity theft [...].

In October 2006, the TSA launched a Web site to help travelers whose names were erroneously listed on airline watch lists. This site had a number of security vulnerabilities: it was not hosted on a government domain; its home page was not encrypted; one of its data submission pages was not encrypted; and its encrypted pages were not properly certified. Furthermore, the site was filled with typos and other errors, causing some to wonder whether TSA's site had been taken over by phishers [...].

For the four months that the site was up, thousands of people visited it, and 247 travelers submitted highly personal information (including their Social Security number and place of birth) through an insecure, non-SSL encrypted form. TSA's lax security practices resulted in thousands of Americans being put at a direct risk of identity theft [...].

The TSA official in charge of the project awarded the contract--without competition--to one of his former employers, a company owned by one of his high school buddies [...] the report notes that "neither Desyne nor the technical lead on the traveler redress Web site have been sanctioned by TSA for their roles in the deployment of an insecure Web site. TSA continues to pay Desyne to host and maintain two major Web-based information systems. TSA has taken no steps to discipline the technical lead, who still holds a senior program management position at TSA." --Surveillance State

Follow the link if you'd like more background to this story and a link to the actual report.

Microsoft shuts down Santa for talking dirty

SEATTLE -- Microsoft Corp. quickly shut down Santa Claus' Web privileges after it found out the automated elf it created for instant messaging with kids was talking naughty, not nice.

Last year, Microsoft encouraged kids to connect directly to "Santa" by adding northpolelive.com to their Windows Live Messenger contact lists. The Santa program, which Microsoft reactivated in early December, asks children what they want for Christmas and can respond on topic via instant messaging, thanks to a bit of artificial intelligence.

Microsoft's holiday cheer soured this week when a reader of a United Kingdom-based technology news site, The Register, reported that a chat between Santa and his underage nieces about eating pizza prompted Santa to bring up oral sex.

One of the publication's writers replicated the chat Monday. After declining the writer's repeated invitations to eat pizza, a frustrated Santa burst out with, "You want me to eat what?!? It's fun to talk about oral sex, but I want to chat about something else."

The exchange ended with the writer and Santa calling each other a "dirty bastard."

Microsoft spokesman Adam Sohn said the company's engineers tried to clean up Santa's vocabulary, but even after making changes to the software, the company wasn't comfortable keeping Santa online.

"It's not like if you say, 'Hello Santa,' he's going to throw inappropriate stuff at you," said Sohn. In this case, he said, Santa's lewd comment was sparked by someone "pushing this thing to make it do things it wasn't supposed to do."

Santa is just one of many "agents," or automated IM programs, that computer users can chat with on Live Messenger. Some are useful -- customer service agents, for example -- while others are frivolous, like an alien that responds to IMs with burbling extraterrestrial noises. Sohn said some of the bots are programmed to fend off inappropriate chats from PC users.

"If they're meant to be cheeky and have fun with you, they may repeat certain things back," he said, or respond to certain words with "that's naughty."

Sohn said Microsoft was not aware that the Santa code included the foul language, but that the company did not suspect a prank.

Microsoft disabled Santa Tuesday. By Wednesday, northpolelive.com was marked "online" in one reporter's Messenger contact list, but Santa did not respond to messages. --The Associated Press.

Yahoo to put adverts in PDF files

Ugh. I don't know who I'm more annoyed at. Yahoo for putting adverts in PDF files, or Adobe for allowing it. Money grubbing stick- it - to - the - consumer greedy corporate Scrooges, the heck with them.

"Yahoo has reached a deal to start running advertisements in Adobe's popular PDF document-reading format.

The service will allow publishers to make money by including adverts linked to the content of a PDF document in a panel at the side of the page.

It is Yahoo's latest way of expanding the places it can advertise online following deals with the auction site Ebay and the cable TV group Comcast.

The advertisements will not appear if the PDF document is printed.

It is the first time that Adobe has allowed dynamic adverts into its PDF (Portable Document Format) files.

Dynamic adverts can be changed for particular audiences or rotated to make sure that a particular user never sees the same advertisement twice.

PDF files can be created by a range of software and can then be read by people who have a PDF reader, such as Adobe's Reader.

The PDF format has proved popular with both companies and home users, and has been used to produce large reports and shorter newsletters, as well as preparing documents for printers."-- bbc.co.uk

Comcast vs. Net Neutrality?

I read in the news that Comcast is blocking some internet traffic in what has been called "traffic shaping".

NEW YORK - Comcast Corp. actively interferes with attempts by some of its high-speed Internet subscribers to share files online, a move that runs counter to the tradition of treating all types of Net traffic equally.

The interference, which The Associated Press confirmed through nationwide tests, is the most drastic example yet of data discrimination by a U.S. Internet service provider. It involves company computers masquerading as those of its users.

If widely applied by other ISPs, the technology Comcast is using would be a crippling blow to the BitTorrent, eDonkey and Gnutella file-sharing networks. While these are mainly known as sources of copyright music, software and movies, BitTorrent in particular is emerging as a legitimate tool for quickly disseminating legal content.

The principle of equal treatment of traffic, called "Net Neutrality" by proponents, is not enshrined in law but supported by some regulations. Most of the debate around the issue has centered on tentative plans, now postponed, by large Internet carriers to offer preferential treatment of traffic from certain content providers for a fee.

Comcast's interference, on the other hand, appears to be an aggressive way of managing its network to keep file-sharing traffic from swallowing too much bandwidth and affecting the Internet speeds of other subscribers. [...]

Comcast's interference affects all types of content, meaning that, for instance, an independent movie producer who wanted to distribute his work using BitTorrent and his Comcast connection could find that difficult or impossible — as would someone pirating music. [...]

The practice of managing the flow of Internet data is known as "traffic shaping," and is already widespread among Internet service providers. It usually involves slowing down some forms of traffic, like file-sharing, while giving others priority. Other ISPs have attempted to block some file-sharing application by so-called "port filtering," but that method is easily circumvented and now largely ineffective.

Comcast's approach to traffic shaping is different because of the drastic effect it has on one type of traffic — in some cases blocking it rather than slowing it down — and the method used, which is difficult to circumvent and involves the company falsifying network traffic. [...]

Free Press, a Washington-based public interest group that advocates Net Neutrality, opposes the kind of filtering applied by Comcast.

"We don't believe that any Internet provider should be able to discriminate, block or impair their consumers ability to send or receive legal content over the Internet," said Free Press spokeswoman Jen Howard.

Paul "Tony" Watson, a network security engineer at Google Inc. who has previously studied ways hackers could disrupt Internet traffic in manner similar to the method Comcast is using, said the cable company was probably acting within its legal rights.

"It's their network and they can do what they want," said Watson. "My concern is the precedent. In the past, when people got an ISP connection, they were getting a connection to the Internet. The only determination was price and bandwidth. Now they're going to have to make much more complicated decisions such as price, bandwidth, and what services I can get over the Internet." [...]--AP

Anywhoo, if you're interested in some specifics of what exactly Comcast is doing, and how, you can follow this link. Apparently, Comcast is using Sandvine traffic shaping hardware. Here's an excerpt from the link:

"The Sandvine application reads packets that are traversing the network boundary. If the application senses that outbound P2P traffic is higher than a threshold determined by Comcast, Sandvine begins to interrupt P2P protocol sequences that would initiate a new transfer from within the Comcast network to a peer outside of the Comcast network. The interruption is accomplished by sending a perfectly forged TCP packet (correct peer, port, and sequence numbering) with the RST (reset) flag set. This packet is obeyed by the network stack or operating system which drops the connection."

Tainted pet food vs. Lead-paint toys

I read this article on Time.com that I find a little befuddling—not because it’s poorly written but because I can’t quite fathom why so many more people were interested in the tainted pet food story rather than lead-paint toys. I guess I’m not a pet person.

Here are some selected quotes from the article:

“Mattel recalled almost 2 million toys worldwide for lead-based paint and other contamination issues. In response to the news, searches for the term "toy recall" spiked, nearly doubling the two-year average for all product recall searches… the Food and Drug Administration found that contaminants in hundreds of brands were causing cats and dogs to fall ill. Searches for pet food-related recall issues were over seven times that same two-year average, over double the number of toy recall searches.”

“Google News indicates that there were over 9,750 online news stories concerning the toy recall while the pet food recall has generated over 77,500 news stories.”

I wonder how many pet owners there are compared to the number of parents—could that explain the disparity between “pet recall” and “toy recall” searches? Perhaps the sheer number of media reports could be the root—more news reports regarding the tainted pet food kept the story in the public eye longer and hence more people conducted more searches for information? That begs the question why news media ended up reporting so much less on lead-paint toys.

Whose health is more important, pets or children? I’m sure if asked straight out the answer would be overwhelmingly the latter. Nevertheless, if you go by online searches I’m wrong and in the minority.

Humans are confuuuusing.

Google Desktop

One of the programs that came pre-installed with my new computer was Google Desktop. At first I wasn't quite sure what it exactly did, but I didn't uninstall it immediately because Geek Squad had said they would remove all the 'junk' software before I picked my computer up; I assumed Google Desktop might be something useful or something I'd want to keep, and delayed exploring it further

For the past week or two, however, I've noticed that Google Desktop regularly requests access to the internet. I finally looked it up and discovered that it's basically a way for Google to run a search of my hard-drive like I would search the internet. Ugh. Even before this, my feelings towards Google have begun to reach parity with my feelings towards Microsoft. The entire notion of Google (or any hacker taking advantage of Google Desktop) indexing my hard-disk worried me silly.

At least Google Desktop was easy to uninstall; although, after my frustration with trying to uninstall Norton Security software I'm never sure how successful any uninstallation actually is.

Anywhoo, I guess Geek Squad doesn't consider Google Desktop "junk" software, but I do. Well, maybe not junk, but certainly something I don't want on my computer--for security reasons alone, not even considering privacy issues.

I'm connected!

Wow. It never quite sank in how much time I spend on the computer until mine when kaput. Anywhoo, my old Dell is still getting diagnosed, but I ended up buying a new CPU, today, from Gateway. My last back-up was only a week ago, so today I spent setting things up, installing programs, updating files et cetera.

My new computer has Vista, which is both good and bad. Good, because it looks good; bad because now I have to learn how everything works. Ugh.

Vista is also annoying because some of my programs don't work. My Western Digital Back-up/Restore program is not compatible with Vista, and my MICROSOFT optical mouse doesn't work, either?! Hopefully once I start looking I'll be able to find updated drivers or something.

Oh yeah, I'm *really* glad I had my smartphone. It took me a while to get it to sync with Vista, but luckily all my contacts, appointments and tasks transferred fine. Whew!